A shocking documentary showing addicts trying to come off heroin is to be filmed in one of the region's clinics, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

The Channel 4 show Going Cold Turkey will follow a group of addicts as they try to kick their habit.

But former addict James Close - who underwent the same five-day detox programme at the Harrogate Clinic, in North Yorkshire - says they are destined to fail.

And he said the fly-on-the-wall show would not portray the harrowing reality of going cold turkey.

The 31-year-old, from Stockton, Teesside, said: "They give you a mixture of sedatives and sleeping pills, so you are absolutely out of it. I couldn't even walk . . . as soon as I got out of bed I was on my knees.

"You don't want to ask the nurses for help all the time, so you try and get to the bathroom on your own, but usually don't make it and end up messing yourself."

Addicts will be monitored and filmed 24 hours a day at the clinic as they go through the Detox 5 programme, which uses sedation and painkillers to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.

grim

James said: "It will be grim viewing, but that's not cold turkey.

"It's when the five days are up and you leave the clinic that the rattling really starts, and the viewers won't see that bit.

"When I was on the programme, there were other addicts who were talking about going and scoring a bag of gear as soon as they got out.

"I managed to stay off for longer than that but - eventually - the emotional issues get a grip on you and that's the stuff Detox 5 doesn't deal with.

"It's the stuff that's left in your head that gets you using again."

Tina Williams, who founded Parents and Addicts against Narcotics in the Community - Panic - on Teesside, agreed.

She said: "I don't think the Detox 5 system works.

"Addicts can't just kick heroin in the space of five days. It's the mental and psychological cravings that really get them and get them using again. Unless it is combined with a residential treatment programme afterwards, I don't think this method works.

"And it's not cold turkey because you are pumped full of drugs . . . it's like comparing giving birth with an epidural to giving birth with no pain relief."

The programme, which will be presented by newsreader Krishnan Guru Murphy, will begin broadcasting a week tomorrow for five days, as part of Channel 4's Addiction Week.

An hour-long documentary later in the month will follow up the addicts' progress.